U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter said Friday that the Navy should consider building fewer littoral combat ships and use the savings to construct amphibious warships that could support the operations of the Marine Corps.

“There is a shortage of amphibious ships; this is one of the most glaring gaps in the Navy,” said Hunter, an East County Republican who served in the Marines and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The first littoral combat ship, Freedom, has experienced a variety of operational problems.

“Maybe the Navy doesn’t need an equal number of each class of LCS. Maybe it needs fewer (Freedom-class ships) and more (Independence-class) ships, or the other way around. Or maybe it needs fewer LCS overall,” he said. “The savings could be used on amphibious ships. The Marines had to procure a ferry while operating in Darwin, Australia. We need an honest analysis from the Navy on what it needs.”

The Navy has 28 amphibious warships. Hunter says the Navy and Marines agree that there should be at least 33, and that the Marines want a total of 38.

The Pentagon currently plans to build 55 LCS vessels to improve its ability to rapidly perform a variety of missions in shallow coastal waters. The first 12 of those ships are scheduled to be stationed in San Diego, and two — Freedom and Independence — are already here.

But the program has faced cost overruns and structural and operational problems. The independent Congressional Research Service said last month that, despite claims by the Navy, the LCS is not truly a multi-mission ship, like a Burke-class destroyer.

Hunter, who has been a critic of the program, said Friday that the Freedom-class ship appears to be a great platform for special operations, and that the Independence class appears to be good at minesweeping and other types of missions. But he expressed doubt that 55 ships are needed.

When asked about the LCS program, Lt. Cmdr. Chris Servello, a Navy spokesman, said, “We stand by our 30-year shipbuilding plans which call for 55 LCS, and we remain confident that we are on a path to success and that the program will provide our Navy with the warfighting capabilities that it needs.”